Secretary of State Bets on Change in Mideast, and His Own Stature

AMMAN, Jordan—Secretary of State John Kerry, in attempting to end two volatile Mideast conflicts, is betting that recent shifts in the region's balance of power—and his own stature—will spur the painful compromises required, say U.S. and Arab officials involved in the diplomacy.

The diplomat's aggressive and highly personalized campaigns to forge both an Arab-Israeli peace agreement and end Syria's civil war, however, are fraught...